My Best Friend's Wedding
by silver.wings.34
Summary: My response to Ausiello's Blind Item about a Bones wedding: She locked eyes for a final time with the man that she now realized she would always be in love with."Congratulations to the bride and groom."


Hey everybody! I'm back! So, be forewarned that this is a rather angsty piece. It was inspired by Ausiello's Blind Item that "a couple on a successful show we're obsessed with will be getting hitched" at the end of next season.  
his clues to tease us were:  
1. It's a wedding I was pretty sure we would never see.  
2. The bride and groom are heterosexual. (Hence, bride and groom.)  
3. The network in question is either ABC, CBS, or Fox.  
4. And there's an important piece of this wedding that remains a mystery - even to me. (OK, that one may not be much of a clue. But it's true!)

Everyone on the boards is DYING for it to be Booth and Bones, and I would sincerely love that too, but then I had another thought. You might hate me for it, but I had to write it: it's entirely possible that if the wedding is on_ Bones_, itmay not be *gasp* Booth and_ Brennan. _It certainly fits all of the clues. So this is my alternate scenario by way of _My Best Friend's Wedding._ Feel free to love it, hate it, whatever. But Review if you want! I'd certainly love that! Happy Reading!

The crinkling of the creased pages in her hands caught her attention once more. She smoothed over the document, allowing the black words to leap up at her, attacking her in their half-truth glory.

"Sweetie, you're not going to have a speech to give if you don't stop fiddling with the pages," Angela gently pulled the paper away from her has she chided. Brennan just gave a small sigh and took another sip of champagne to calm her nerves.

She hated giving speeches and Booth knew that, yet he had insisted. _You're my best friend_, he'd said, giving her both the patented Booth charm and eyes in one devastating look. Even as she'd hesitated, she knew that she'd do it in the end. _Because we're partners, Bones. It's what we do. _

She looked around the room—the tent actually, located behind the bride's parent's country club—and took in the simple, elegant splendor that surrounded them. The twinkle lights, ten piece band in white tuxedos, the guests in all of their black-tie finery. None of it seemed to say Booth, but there he was: staring into the eyes of the journalist who'd stolen his heart in the desert. And who was she to fight that.

Soft clinking of glasses turned into a crescendo and her stomach swooped violently as Jared stood up with a smile, taking his place by the microphone on stage by the band. Booth hadn't said anything about a stage. She took a deep breath, trying to pack away the flight response that was overwhelming her as Jared's heartwarmingly funny-yet-serious speech was quickly reaching its close.

Her heart was pounding and her breathing was rapid, but those she could handle. It was her vision beginning to swim with tears that alarmed her. That never happened with her stage fright before. She was usually able to hide away the other sensations and give her speech. She'd spoken all over the world and in front of some of the most influential people but for some reason she felt like this speech, this particular one, was quite possibly the most important speech she'd ever give in her life.

Angela's hand squeezed hers and she realized it was time. She stood up and smoothed her black organza dress out before slowly walking to the stage. Her rapid pulse and shallow breaths were deafening any other sensations. She adjusted the microphone to her height, stalling for however briefly she could. Angela, bless her, was staring up at her with smile that mixed pain with hopefulness. Brennan would have doubted it possible if she hadn't seen that own look reflecting back from her mirror for the past seven months.

Releasing the death grip she held on that simple creased page, she began to read.

"I realize that it isn't quite customary for the Groom to have two best man speeches, but considering that I am not male, I feel that we can get around this cultural restraint."

The words felt robotic coming from her mouth which she found interesting considering how hard it had been for her to write the speech down. She paused for breath and looked up from her page to see the brown eyes she was so used to, staring back at her hopefully. He was so happy, so in love. She couldn't disappoint him. One more glance confirmed the encouraging look she knew would be there. She swallowed hard, the poetic side of her saying she was choking on emotions, and folded up the worn out paper in her hands. She tried once more.

"I've known Booth for the past seven years and while we didn't quite hit it off at first, we stuck together. In the past seven years, Booth, Seeley, became my best friend and helped teach me a lot of things about life that I didn't know I was missing out on. He taught me about pop-culture, about being a good friend, but most of all he taught me about love." Brennan felt a wave of heat up her neck as tears once again prickled in the corner of her eyes, "He taught me that there's someone out there for everyone, that we're meant to find that person and most of all that love is worth it, even if you get hurt in the process." She took one more steeling breath and painted a slightly less pain-filled smile on her face. "The way that you two look at each other, the way that you care for one another surpasses every lesson I had on love. I'm so glad that Booth found someone who could love him in ways that others can't." She locked eyes for a final time with the man that she now realized she would always be in love with, "You're my best friend, Booth, but I'm glad that you now have Margaret to be the best everything else. Congratulations to the bride and groom."

The rest of the crowd under the tent echoed her sentiment, but with much more enthusiasm. Brennan turned away, swallowing the tears and feelings that she'd become so accustom to ignoring. She was heart-crushed but couldn't be. Her best friend had finally met someone who could love him back, someone to make him whole and she couldn't blame the distinct and overwhelming sense of loss she felt on him. It was all her fault. He gave her a chance for this type of happiness and she blew it. She brushed away the lone droplet that escaped her eye and put on her smile once more. Angela squeezed her hand in sympathy as Brennan retook her seat. The Maid of Honor gave her speech and then it was time for the first dance. Booth led his raven-haired beauty onto the dance-floor and dissolved into his world of love; his world of Margaret.

"That could have been you, you know." Angela wasn't trying to be harsh for she sensed her best friend's distress, but she felt that Brennan had to know the gravity of her choice.

The Anthropologist heaved a sigh, not taking her eyes off of the man that she loved and the woman who loved him back.

"I know, Ange, I know."


End file.
